BELGRADE, January 23. /TASS/. The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has extended the operating license of NIS (Neftna Industrija Srbije) until February 20, Radio Television of Serbia reported.
It is specified that license is valid provided that NIS' operations do not involve US entities or the US financial system, and are not carried out in the interests of blocked persons other than the company itself. The operations must not fall under the current US sanctions regimes against Russia and Ukraine.
The company's previous license, issued about three weeks ago, was set to expire at midnight. On Tuesday, NIS submitted a new extension request after submitting a preliminary sales and purchase agreement between Gazprom Neft and MOL to OFAC, a condition the US administration required to issue new authorization documentation.
NIS's new ownership structure is expected to be finalized by mid-March, with the state potentially acquiring more than a third of the country's key energy company.
Meanwhile, the refinery has resumed production of petroleum products following the resumption of oil supplies through the Croatian operator JANAF. Earlier OFAC also extended the deadline for negotiations on the sale of Russia's stake in NIS until March 24.
On January 19, Gazprom and the Hungarian concern MOL announced the signing of a letter of intent to sell a stake in Serbia's NIS. Serbian authorities announced an increase in their stake in the company by 5%, which will allow Belgrade to influence certain decisions at the shareholder meeting. MOL is also in talks with the UAE's ADNOC to join NIS as a minority shareholder.
NIS owners are forced to sell their assets because otherwise they will be subject to US sanctions. In January 2025, the US Treasury Department added the Serbian company to the sanctions list along with its majority shareholder, Gazprom Neft. After several deferrals, the restrictions came into effect on October 9, 2025. On November 11, 2025, the Serbian Energy Ministry announced that the Russian owners of NIS had notified the United States of their willingness to transfer control of the company to a third party. On December 31, 2025, NIS received a license from the US Treasury to continue operations until January 23, 2026.
NIS's main production facilities are located in Serbia, as well as in Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, and Romania. The majority shareholders are Gazprom Neft (44.85%), Serbia (29.87%), and St. Petersburg-based JSC Intelligence, managed by Gazprom Capital (11.3%).